Activist Paul Alan Friedman has talked with the contractor, who told him that the tree will be taken down in August.
“The concession stand project is budgeted at $5 million, as I understand it,” Friedman said. “If you can afford to spend five million on a project like this, you can afford to save the tree. We don’t blame the contractor, but this is about putting pressure on the school board to change their approach. It’s the fault of the people making the policy.”
It was another busy week in Alexandria.
Our readers overwhelmingly responded to Sunday’s protest at the Alexandria home of acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, and the story has more than 380 comments. This week also saw its first homicide, which occurred in the West End, in addition to a number of crime events in the Braddock area.
“Some Alexandria citizens have already stepped up to say they will protect the tree, some even going so far as to say they will chain themselves to it,” notes the Change.org petition. “Let us show them our support and tell the city and school board NO to killing this tree.”
The tree was reportedly supposed to be cut down last week, but is still standing. ACPS did not respond to ALXnow’s calls for comment on the situation, and if it is possible to scuttle plans to cut it down.
Mayor Says Heroes Act Ignores Local Government — “The Heroes Act, adopted by the House of Representatives included $89.6M in funding for Alexandria, which nearly replaced the revenue we are projected to lose this year. The bill released in the Senate tonight doesn’t even mention local government. They cannot be serious.” [Twitter]
ACPS Hosting Reopening Chats Today — “School Board Representatives, Lorraine Johnson and Ashley Sanchez-Viafara (both seniors), to lead Student-focused Reopening Community Chats.” [ACPS]
Students at T.C. Williams High School and city residents are placing a tarp over the school marquee every day to obscure the name until the school board votes to change it next spring.
“I don’t want to graduate from a school that is represented by a racist name,” T.C. rising senior Sarah Devendorf told ALXnow. “I don’t want to put it on my diploma, and it’s shameful because we are such a diverse liberal community.”
The tree is reportedly scheduled to be cut down this week, and a number of residents are saying they will tie themselves to the tree, or at least the opening to the construction fencing that has been erected around the concession stand, which is part of the modernization the Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium at T.C. Williams High School. It includes a new concession stand, bathrooms and storage space.
“Much consideration has been given to finding a way to save this tree which unfortunately is positioned in the middle of the site where the concession and restroom area will be,” ACPS spokeswoman Julie Allen told ALXnow in a statement. “When planning, the goal was to locate this facility as far as away from the neighborhood on Woods Avenue as possible to minimize its impact on residents. Although we understand and agree that losing a mature tree is regrettable, 31 new trees and other landscaping will be planted.”
Updated at 3:45 p.m — The Alexandria City School Board unanimously voted 9-0 on Friday to consider changing the name of T.C. Williams by next spring.
Earlier: Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent agrees that the name of T.C. Williams High School needs to change, and asked the community to be patient with a proposed process that, if approved today by the school board, would result in a report to be acted upon next spring.
Alexandria City Public Schools have acknowledged that Thomas Chambliss Williams was a racist and segregationist, and on Friday the School Board will decide on moving forward with the renaming process for T.C. Williams High School.
On the table is a proposal to begin the renaming process by directing Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. to initiate a public engagement process this fall, followed by a report with recommendations next spring.
Alexandria African American activists and leaders virtually came out in force on Sunday to demand that T.C. Williams High School be renamed.
“When I first learned that the high school that I graduated from was named after a segregationist and a racist, I was appalled,” said Lindsey Woodson Vick, a T.C. grad, who organized and led Zoom chat with advocates for changing the school name. “We owe better to the people who came before us and the people who will come after us.”
The School Board will be taking up the question of renaming T.C. Williams High School this fall, but whether the school should be renamed is still undecided.
The school was built on land taken by eminent domain from a nearby black community and then was named in honor of Superintendent Thomas Chambliss Williams. Williams was an ardent segregationist who fought not only to keep the black and white students divided, but fired a school employee who tried to get her children sent to an integrated school.
The Alexandria School Board has received a petition from the community, and the topic of renaming T.C. Williams High School will be addressed this fall, according to Board Chair Cindy Anderson.
The school system will also be looking at the names of all of its facilities, however no future date has been set in stone as ACPS is focusing on its reopening plan, Anderson said.
